Seed-grader.



G. MCCABE.

SEED GRADER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 24, I9I5.

Patented. Apr. 18, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l- Awww THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPII C0.. WASHINGTON. D. c.

G. MCCABE.

SEED GRADER. APPLICATION FILD MAY24,1915.

Patented Apr. 18, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEE-T- 2.

'rms coLuMBxA PLANoGR/mn zu., WASHINGTON. D. c.

GEORGE TICCABE, OF SPOKANE, WASHINGTON.

SEED-GRADER.

Application filed May 24, 1915.

To all wko/m, 'it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE MCCABE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Spokane, in the county of Spokane and State of l/Vashington, have invented new and useful Improvements in Seed-Graders, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machines for grading grain and seeds of various kinds, and it has for its object to produce a machine of this class of simple and efficient construction.

A further object of the invention is to construct a machine wherein the light trash, as well as weed seeds, cockle and the like shall be separated from the product in a simple and effective manner.

A further object of the invention is to simplify and improve the construction of the fan so as to secure the best results.

A further object of the invention is to imrove the construction and operation of the shaking shoe containing the riddles, where-` by the grading operation is performed.

With these and other ends in view which will readily appear as the nature of the inf vention is better understood, the same consists in the improved construction and novel arrangement and combination of parts which will be hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings has been illustrated a simple and preferred form of the invention, it being, however, understood that no limitation is necessarily made to the precise structural details therein exhibited, but that changes, alterations and modifications within the scope of the claim may be resorted to when desired.

1n the drawings,-Figure 1 is a side eleva` tion of a grading machine constructed in ac cordance with the invention. Fig. 2 is a transvense sectional viewv taken on the line 2 2 in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 3,-3 in Fig. 2. Fig. l is a vertical transverse sectional view taken on the line 4 4 in Fig. 3.

Corresponding parts in the several figures are denoted by like characters of reference. The frame of the machine includes corner posts or uprights 15 rising from sills 16, said corner posts supporting at their upper ends a hopper 17 equipped with a valve 18 operable by a screw threaded i'od 19 and whereby the area of the feed opening 20 may be regulated. The corner posts support Side Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr.. 13, 1913.

Serial No. 30,124.

frame members 21 between which and the hopper the upper shoe B is mounted. Said upper lshoe may be arranged to reciprocate on the top edges of the side members 21, and it is equipped beneath the hopper 17 with a hopper-shaped receptacle 22 at the top of which a fine screen or riddle 23 is supported in a somewhat inclined position, the high end of said screen being directly below the feed opening 2O of the hopper 17. r1`he low end of the screen 23 is supported above the high end of the top riddle 24, said riddle being one of a plurality of similar structures which are mounted between the side members of the top shoe and which incline slightly in a downwarddirection to the discharge end. These riddles are of suitable mesh to permit grain or seeds of the character which are to be operated upon to pass freely, and are for the purpose of enabling straw, chaff and other light trash to be separated therefrom. The hopper-shaped receptacle 22 is provided Iwith one or more apertures 25 for the escape of material separated through the screen 23.

A fan casing or housing 26 is constructed at what will be regarded as the forward end of the frame, said fan casing extending between two of the uprights or corner posts 15 which are provided with bearings to support the fan shaft 27, on which, about midway between the ends thereof is mounted a hub 28 having radial arms 29 which are socketed or recessed for the reception of spokes 30 which are disposed radially with respect to the axis of the fan shaft. Each of the spokes has a kerf or recess 31 wherein a fan blade 32 is seated, and from this construew tion it will appearthat each fan blade will occupy a position which is exactly radial to the axis of the fan shaft.

Supported pivotally between the side members 21l of the casing, as indicated at 33, is a wind board or deflector 34 having fastening members 35 that operate in slots 36 in the side members 21, said slots being concentric with the pivot 33. The wind board carries a hood 37 which is so positioned that the blast from the fan ejected between the wind board and the hood will be projected against the underside of the screen or screens supported in the shoe 24, the angle at which the blast strikes the scrcensbeing regulated by the position of the wind board.

A shaking shoe 38 is supported beneath the side members 2l, one end of the shoe be? ing supported by means of links 39, said links being the downwardly extending arms of levers 40 that are fulcrumed in keepers 41 on the side members. The other end of the shoe 38 is provided with anti-friction rollers 42 that engage corrugated blocks 48 which are supported for vertical adjustment on some of the corner posts 15, said corner posts being provided with vertical slots 44 for the passage of fastening members, such as bolts 45, whereby the blocks are adjustably mounted in position. By this construction that end of the shoe 38 which is supported on the blocks 43 may be raised or lowered, thereby changing the inclination of the shoe, and it will also be seen that the blocks 43 may be tilted about the aXes of their supporting bolts 45 so that when the shoe is reciprocated the lower end thereof will move in an approximately horizontal plane or in an inclined plane, according to the adjustment of the corrugated blocks. The end of the shoe which is thus supported is the low end, and it will be readily seen that when the shoe is reciprocated, the 4roller or supporting member 42 which travels over the corrugated face of the block 43 will cause the shoe to be subjected to a vertical vibration the same resulting in a quivering motion of the screens supported in the shoe which is very effectice in causing the desired separation to take place. The bottom shoe may have a plurality of screens, two of which are shown in the accompanying drawings, where said screens are designated respectively, by 46 and 47, the top screen discharging over a tail board 48, while the bottom screen discharges over the bottom member 49 of the shoe. It will be observed, however, that the screen 47 is raised` above the bottom member 49 and that the latter is provided with a discharge opening 50 through which material passing through the screen 47 may escape.

The lever 40 has an upwardly extending arm 51 which is connected by a link 52 with the upper shoe B. The lever arm .5l is also connected bv a pitman 53 with a wrist pin 54 associated with a pinion 55 on the fan shaft 27, the same being driven by a spur wheel 56 which may be operated by hand or yby anyconvenient power.

In machines of this kind it has been found that the various seeds and grains when dropped on a screen from the usual height will bounce orrebound to a considerable extent and when again falling will be apt to rest on the layer of seed which already covers the screen and which is not intended to pass therethrough, thus preventing effective separation from taking place. To illustrate, ifv the seed were-permitted to pass through the discharge aperture 20 of the Genies of this patent may belohtained for .five cents each. by addressing the a'shiagtun,v D. C.

hopper and to drop any considerable distance, the smaller seeds, such as wild mustard, cockle and the like would be apt to rebound and finally to come to rest on the layer from which it is intended to be separated, thus rendering the operation ineffective. By the present improvement the auxiliary hopper having the screen 28 is positioned very closely beneath the aperture 20, giving less opportunity for the weed seeds to rebound and enabling a large percentage to be separated from the grain at this early stage of the operation. I have found in practical operation that 90% of all the undesirable seed may be separated at this sta ge. The wild seed will escape through the apertures 25 at the sides ofthe auxiliary hopper. The material discharged over the screen 23 on to the top screen 24 will be thoroughly shaken and agitated, and trash, such as bits of straw, chaff and the like, will be blown out at the tail end of the machine. The seeds after passing through the screens 24 will drop on the screen 46 of the bottom shoe, and the grade product which is discharged olver the tail board 48 will be saved for seed purposes. The second grade product which is discharged over the bottom member 49 of the bottom shoe will constitute the market product, and a third grade product will be discharged through the aperture 50 in the bottom member of the bottom shoe.

It is obvious that the screen or riddles are to be of any suitable mesh for the work that is to be performed, and to this end the Several screens are preferably removable from the respective shoes, the side members of which may be provided with grooves to enable the screens to be convenientlv slid into position or removed, as may be required.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, is:-

A. seed grader comprising a frame having vertically disposed slots` blocks having longitudinallv disposed slots, bolts passing through the slots of the frame and the blocks` and serving as means for securing the blocks at adjusted positions upon the frame, a shoe mounted in an inclined position in the frame and having its lower end supported on the blocks, and means for reciprocating the shoe in a direction in alinement with the slots in the blocks and transverselv of the slots in the frame.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE MGCABE.

VitneSses:

P. W. MrroHER, R. E. Mosnn.

Commissioner of Patents, 

